


one of the boys

by ax100



Series: Oozora character studies [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, get rekt Terushima, sorry not sorry he was really gross towards Kiyoko and this was cathartic as hell to write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-23 00:09:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13775520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ax100/pseuds/ax100
Summary: There were two things people needed to know about the manager of Oozora's volleyball team: (1) she didn't take kindly to disrespectful little turds like the guy catcalling her right now; and (2) she's not afraid to get her hands dirty.





	one of the boys

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there, Ax here! I guess this whole thing requires a bit of an introduction, huh? 
> 
> So I recently got back into Haikyuu, which basically involved me just crying at all hours of the day over fictional people, but what's new, right? Anyway, after I finished catching up with the manga, I got this niggling wisp of an idea: what if. I made. my OWN volleyball team? :UUUUU 
> 
> I told my good friend Icchan about it, and we started making these characters (well, more like recycled old OCs and groomed them into something more suitable for the Haikyuu-verse LOL) until we had an entire team and their fictional school and all these scenarios in our head and tbh it's just crazy, so crazy. We're hoping to write an actual serious fic sometime where our boys meet other canon characters and play some actual volleyball, but for now, I've been working on some slice-of-life fics featuring the Oozora team. Let's call them "character studies" so it sounds like I have a good excuse to be writing these lmao.
> 
> Is it self-indulgent? Yes. Very much so. I actually hesitated to post this story because I know original characters aren't usually well-received, but MEH I enjoyed writing it, so I hope at least one person out there who isn't me or Icchan enjoys reading it! 
> 
> Many thanks to Karinne for always listening to me ramble and for always encouraging me and for loving me and Icchan's team like they're her own sons and daughter <3 You are the MVP of my heart.
> 
>  **Now, for a short primer:**  
>  SCHOOL NAME: Oozora Kokusai Gakuen (大空国際学園) / Oozora International Academy  
> LOCATION: Osaka  
> SCHOOL COLORS: Burgundy - dark gray - white  
> Oozora is an international boarding school located just outside Osaka, a city with a big expat population. Roughly three-fourths of the student body are foreign or biracial, while the last one-fourth accounts for fully Japanese students. A very high level of both English and Japanese is required to attend this school, as classes are held in both languages.
> 
>  **OOZORA MEN'S VOLLEYBALL TEAM:**  
>  #1 Satoru Sanji (Captain) (3rd year)  
> #2 Lennox Sykes (Vice-Captain) (2nd year)  
> #3 Johan McDowell (2nd year)  
> #4 Lee Roi Jones (2nd year)  
> #5 Derek Riba (2nd year)  
> #6 Daniel "Danny" Yamada (1st year)  
> #7 Yuuki Saito (1st year)  
> #8 Shori Matsuo (1st year)  
> #9 Nozaki Ah (1st year)
> 
> Manager - Rina Lee (3rd year)  
> Coach - Chihaya Hawthorne (32 years old)
> 
> That's all the info I have time to share for now. Use your imagination for the meantime while we prepare things hehe. I'm planning to share the profile of each character over on [my tumblr](http://ax100.tumblr.com) after I clean them up a little for more readability. [Icchan](http://gariben.tumblr.com) will also be posting some art of our characters once things settle down!
> 
> That's it for now. I hope you enjoy 7000 unbeta'd words of (1) someone putting Terushima in his place because I still feel squicked whenever I remember the way he tried to make a move on Kiyoko; and (2) team shenanigans.
> 
> (and before you ask, I have no idea about the logistics of this fic. Maybe Jouzenji and Oozora are participating in some random invitational tournament?? SHHH DON'T THINK TOO HARD ABOUT IT JUST READ)

"Okay, you lot, great work today!" Chihaya told his team, clapping his hands together. He was grinning from ear to ear--a good sign or a bad one, depending on who you asked. It meant there was a high chance he'd treat the team on the way home, if Rina didn't manage to convince him otherwise before that. "We've still got some ways to go, so go shower and get changed and meet back at the main entrance, yeah?"

 "Yessir!" the team responded in unison before dispersing. Most of them started off in the direction of the locker room, but Lennox lingered as he waited for Johan to finish taking off his shoes. Around them, the din that had filled the hallways of the gymnasium continued, as more and more people piled out of the spectators' area.

"Ah yeah, Rina--" Chihaya turned to her, but before he could say anything else, she gave a curt nod.

"Don't worry, Coach, I've got it," she said, already turning on her heel to head back to the court.

His grin widened. "And that's why you're our manager!"  he commented.

"Nozaki!" Rina called over her shoulder. The boy in question jumped--had he not been paying attention? "Help me out here, will you?"

"Ah, sure..." he weakly responded. He hadn't played, so he had no need for the showers. He gave their coach a quick bow before jogging over to Rina. Chihaya waved them off before turning to look for the smoking area.

~~~~~~

 

The court was quiet. Nowhere near silent, of course, with the murmurs of people still left behind, as well as the squeak of wheels across the floor, as ball carts and scoreboards were put away. Still, things were much calmer, now that all the games of the day were finished. No more cheering from the stands, no more passionate yelling from the court, no more skidding of shoes against the wooden floor. It was kind of eerie, how quiet it was, now that Rina had gotten used to the incessant noise.

"Don’t you think it’s kind of pointless…?” Nozaki piped up from behind her. Even in the quiet of the gymnasium, she still had to strain her ears to hear him.

“What is?” she asked, looking back at him.

He made a vague, sweeping gesture with his hand. “This, erm...cleaning and stuff. There are still going to be games...Tomorrow, I mean. People are still going to play tomorrow, so...wouldn’t it just be better to keep everything out?”

Tomorrow.

Yes, that’s right. Tomorrow. They were still going to play tomorrow. Their team had done well. They had won their first two matches. They were going to come back tomorrow, and they were going to play for another day.

The thought was enough to bring a smile to her face.

“That’s true,” she agreed, maybe a little more cheerfully than she needed to. “You’re right, they should just leave it out for the people coming back tomorrow.” _People like us._

If Nozaki noticed the way she brightened in response to his question, he did not comment on it.

They reached the court where they had their last match. By this point, most people had already vacated the premises, both spectator and competitor alike. It seemed like the tournament organizers had also finished putting everything away in this area, as none of them, except a few stray runners who zipped by along the sidelines, still remained.

Rina did a once-over of the place, left to right, as she recalled how that last winning point had been scored--

_It had happened so fast, right when the opposing team thought they could rest easy, thought that they weren’t going to be able to return that last ball. But they hadn’t expected Lennox to take off after it like an antelope, fixated on the ball like nothing else in the world existed. They hadn’t expected Johan’s calm receive to get it at the exact spot where Danny was. And even if they were expecting Lee Roi to come at them, their blocks were nothing in the face of such an overwhelmingly strong spike, one that made such a loud, booming sound when it hit the floor of the other side that it stunned everyone in that moment into silence._

_And just as fast as that moment had happened, it passed, to be replaced by a new one. The referee’s whistle seemed to startle everyone out of their reverie. A short burst, then a long one--the game was finished. Oozora had won._

_And the crowd went wild._

 

\--Even just the memory of what had transpired just an hour before raised goosebumps on her skin. That was the kind of play you could only expect from people who had been playing together for as long as those four had. Lennox, Johan, Lee Roi, and Danny...the way they moved spoke volumes of how much they trusted each other, of how much they trusted that the others would be there when they needed them. Bonds like those, ones forged through battling together time and time again, were rare and so very special.

“Ah,” she said as she spotted a familiar item left in the corner of the gym. “Isn’t that Saito’s?”

Behind her, Nozaki gave a hum of agreement before jogging past her to retrieve it without a word. He came bounding up to her again, Saito’s dark blue ball bag in hand. “No one got it,” he commented simply.

She nodded, by now used to his vague way of speaking. “Yeah, it’s strange. The organizers must’ve missed it.” She looked around again and now, satisfied that nothing more had been left behind, turned to start heading back out. “Looks like it’s all clear here. Let’s go ba--"

“Hey, you there!” an unfamiliar voice called out from behind her, followed by a loud whistle. She was going to ignore it, but the voice called out again: “Ms. Oozora Cutie!”

She sighed as she stopped in her steps. Her day had been going so well too.

“Rina-san, I think--”

“Yeah, I heard,” she cut Nozaki off, turning to look at who the hell was fucking _catcalling_ her.

“Up here, cutie!”

She turned her gaze up to the stands, where some douchebag with a bleached undercut and pierced ears was leaning over the handrail and waving at her from, grinning like an idiot. His jacket was just as yellow as his hair--a good shade of yellow, she would’ve admitted, had this been any other person. But because it was this guy, it was not, in her opinion, to be considered a good shade of yellow.

She briefly considered how to greet him.

“Hey there, Mr. Random Dickwad, what the hell do you want?” she eventually settled for, putting her hands on her hips as she perused through her mental catalog for the school this guy was from.

Whatever answer this guy was expecting, this was not it. It probably wasn’t even within the _realm_ of possibility of whatever he had been considering, judging by the way his jaw dropped, as well as that of his brown-haired companion beside him.

“Better close your mouth before a bug flies in,” she quipped. From the corner of her eye, she could see Nozaki hide his laugh behind a cough.

That seemed to snap the guy out of his gawking. He fixed her with a smirk, his eyes now practically sparkling with determination.

Geez. So he was one of _those_ types.

“You’re a spunky one, huh?” he mused. When he continued speaking, she caught a brief glimpse of a tongue piercing. “Just like your team! They totally creamed the other guys, huh?”

The final set count had been 2-1 to them. The scores had been 19-25, 25-23, and 29-27. The other team’s libero had to be relieved in the middle of the second set because of a bad run-in with a metal bench that sprained his wrist pretty badly. It was an injury he had incurred while chasing the ball down his team had all but given up on. They had gotten a break from that point.

“It was a hard fight,” Rina grit out, now irritated that this scumbag was making it sound like their opponents had just rolled over and handed them victory. “They played hard. They played well. It was a game they can be proud of.”

The guy blinked, seemingly confused. “Can someone really be proud of a game they didn’t win though?”

Rina had to quite literally bite her tongue to stop herself from snapping at him. Her blood was boiling underneath her skin, and the throbbing in her temple was steadily getting more violent. Her hands curled into fists at her sides.

“Anyway!” the guy said, brushing the whole topic off and grinning again like this conversation was actually going well. “I’m Terushima Yuuji! And what would your name be, Ms. Cutie?”

She weighed her options, before deciding the drama that would arise from not answering would not be worth her time. “Rina,” she bit out simply, wishing she could glare holes right through his stupid head.

“Rina…?” he repeated, lilting at the end, expectant.

“Rina Lee. Manager. Nice meeting you.” she said robotically before turning on her heel to get the fuck away from him because she really wanted nothing more than to sock him in the face right about now.

“Hey!” he called after her. “You don’t even want to chat? Come on, that’s pretty rude, you know!”

She ignored him, continuing to storm away. Was this guy completely dense?

“At least give me your number! We can talk later!”

That gave her pause. She stopped in her tracks, considering the offer.

A smirk tugged on her lips. She could work with that.

She whirled around again, almost running right into Nozaki, who had been jogging to keep up with her. Upon seeing this, Terushima’s frown morphed into that annoying grin of his, and the furrow on his brow smoothed out. She sauntered back to where he and his teammate were standing. Nozaki, confused about the development, tentatively followed her.

When she was directly below them, she settled her hands on her hips again. “Terushima Yuuji,” she said slowly, her tone sickly sweet. This didn’t seem to bother him though, as he still beamed at the mention of his name. “I’m not such an easy girl, you know.”

There was a brief flash of something in his eyes as his smile shifted into a smirk. He knew what this was about. “That’s fine,” he replied, crossing his arms and leaning them on the handrails to peer at her more closely. “I’m always up for a good challenge. What’d you have in mind?”

She stuck her hand out to her side, trusting that Nozaki knew where she was going with this. When she heard the sound of a zipper being undone and some rustling, she knew she had been understood.

The weight of the ball was welcome and familiar in her hand.

“What else?” she called out to Tersuhima, absently tossing the ball up and down. “Volleyball, of course. That’s what you’re good at, isn’t it?”

His smirk curled even wider as he cocked an eyebrow up at her. “You’re really going to challenge me at my own game? You’ve got more guts than I thought.”

“What, are we just gonna stand around here all day? Get down here and let’s see if you can put your money where your mouth is, boy.”

Hook, line, sinker. Terushima’s eyes glinted as he straightened up, regarding her with a confident, almost condescending, look. “Be right there, Ms. Cutie,” he said in a voice that curled out of him like smoke, unlike his boisterous tone from earlier. “Get your ball boy to hold your phone for you. I’ll be getting your number in just a minute.”

Terushima and his still nameless companion turned around, revealing the name of their school emblazoned on the back of their jackets: Jouzenji High School. Rina filed this information away for future use, though she was reasonably sure that this school was located somewhere in the far north. Depending on how this whole thing went, she’d have to have a word with their manager, if they had one.

When the two disappeared from the side of the handrails to exit the spectators’ area, Nozaki turned to her. “You’ve really done it this time,” he told her. He rarely voiced his thoughts with such sureness. Rina was inclined to agree with him.

A few minutes later, they saw the two players enter through the entrance to the courts they had used earlier. Even from afar, she could see that they were both much taller than her and even Nozaki (though that latter statement didn’t mean much in the first place). As they drew closer, she estimated that they seemed to be around Johan or Riba’s height.

“So,” Terushima started as he and his companion stopped in front of them, all height and intimidation. “What’s it gonna be?”

Unfortunately for them, Rina didn’t care much to be intimidated. She met his eyes straight on, unyielding and unafraid. With her free hand, she jerked her thumb to the court behind her, where the net was still up. “One shot only, just you and me. Pick up my serve. That’s it.”

Terushima’s eyes widened for a split second before he barked out a laugh. “You gotta be kidding me!” he said, perhaps a bit too loudly, as a faint echo drew up around the practically empty gymnasium. But in the next second, his gaze darkened and he leaned down--leaned _over_ her. And when he spoke, his voice was low and dangerous. “Alright, Ms. Cutie. I’ll play your little game.”

She smirked at him in return. He had no idea what he was getting into.

Moments later, they were standing on opposite sides of the net, jackets shucked and stances taken. It was just them, clad in their t-shirts--Rina in gray and Terushima in white. At the side, beside the referee’s stand, were their companions. Nozaki’s calm demeanor and expression betrayed nothing of what he was really feeling, but it was the whiteness of his knuckles as he gripped the now empty ball bag that gave his nervousness away. Rina’s jacket was folded neatly over his other arm. The other Jouzenji guy just looked on, his amusement clear, Terushima’s jacket haphazardly slung over his right shoulder.

Standing there in the service zone, Rina felt the anger she had felt earlier roiling just beneath the surface of her skin. She dribbled the ball, and the sound it made as it hit the hard wooden floor echoed throughout the gym. It was eerie, alright. It was quiet and it was cold, standing here with no one in the bleachers.

Her eyes darted back to Terushima, who met her gaze with no hesitation, the challenge in his eyes clear. He was crouched in the perfect receiving stance, right in the middle of the front zone.

She stopped dribbling for a moment, and slowly brought her free hand up to point straight at him, straight at his smug little face. He blinked at this, but before he could ask, she spoke, her voice echoing: “I suggest you move back, boy. You’re not going to have a chance from up there.”

His eyebrows drew together at that, and for the first time today, it seemed she had been able to ruffle his feathers. Without a word, he shuffled backward until he was in the back zone, but the way he clenched his jaw told Rina that he didn’t appreciate her little _tip_ at all. His eyes didn’t leave hers for even a moment, but now they seemed to say, ‘ _Who the hell do you think you are?’_ more than they said, _‘Bring it!’_

Rina couldn’t help but let out an amused little huff at that as she lowered her arm. Yeah, he was one of _those_ types indeed.

She could work with that.

“You two!” she called out to their audience. Nozaki started, but the other guy just turned his gaze at her lazily. He didn’t seem too happy about what she had said to Terushima. “We gotta make this fair, right? Why don’t we have you two watch the lines? If I commit a fault or hit an out, we’ll count it as Terushima’s win, yeah?”

From the corner of her eye, she saw Terushima grit his teeth. He did not like how things were going.

She looked at him over her shoulder. “What are you getting so pissed about over there? This is to your advantage!” she reminded him cheerfully. “Tell you what, you can even decide who watches which line! Fair enough, right?”

Terushima visibly bristled at this. “Fine, whatever!” he retorted, agitated now. Clearly, he wasn’t used to being told what to do. It was just as well. “I’ll get your guy here. Bobata, watch her feet, will ya?”

The two spectators hesitated for a moment before moving. Nozaki jogged over to the endline behind Terushima, still clutching the empty ball bag and Rina’s jacket to his chest, and the other guy--Bobata, Rina now knew--strode over to her side, warily eyeing his teammate over his shoulder.

“Terushima, don’t let her rile you up, man!” he eventually called out as he took his position next to the endline.

Terushima didn’t immediately respond, but it was interesting to see the emotions flit across his face as Rina dribbled the ball, trying to get a better feel for it. She made a mental note to tell Saito to get it inflated again sometime soon.

The expression on Terushima’s face eventually smoothened out into an easy smile, as smarmy as the one he wore when he was still talking to her from the stands. The tension that had bunched up in his shoulders from her barbs drained away, and when he opened his eyes to meet hers once more, he looked confident and self-assured rather than frenzied and irritated.

“You’re right, there’s no need to get so stressed out,” he agreed, his gaze still locked onto hers, before he sank into his receiving stance. “Let’s have some fun, shall we, Ms. Cutie?”

She caught the ball in her hands as it bounced back up.

“Yeah,” she said, glaring right back at him. “Let’s.”

Time seemed to stop in that moment, as she spun the ball in her hands, paying attention to the way the material brushed against the skin of her palms, before tensing her fingertips to stop the motion. She bounced the ball again-- _once, twice_ \--listening to the way the impact resonated throughout the gymnasium. The silence was off-putting, but also gave her space to think-- _which how when where_ , the things she needed to consider for a serve, all in one moment.

She looked up at Terushima’s face, his stupid smug face--and then tossed the ball high up and in front.

The squeak of her shoes against the polished wooden floor was stark in her ears-- _one, two, three_ steps was all she needed, launching herself into the air as high as that last step would take her, drawing her arm back as she did.

The weight of the ball against her palm was well-known and familiar-- _hello, nice to see you again_ \--but with a little more give than she would’ve liked (Saito really needed to get this damn thing reinflated). And just as soon as she had touched it, she threw all her momentum, all the weight in her arm forward, forward, forward.

And as she started falling, she watched as the ball sailed forward, downward, over the net, just the right trajectory, too fast, too close, zipping right past Terushima’s ear, right past Mr. Random Dickwad’s _fucking stupid smug face_ \--

**_BAM!_ **

And it was done.

She landed on both feet, taking care to bend her knees to lessen the impact, and straightened back up, the squeak of her shoes almost imperceptible past the ringing in her ears from the ball’s impact with the floor. Directly across her, Terushima stood frozen, still in his receiving stance, his eyes wide and his jaw hanging open.

“In,” Nozaki said, his soft voice sounding impossibly loud in the empty gymnasium.

Rina couldn’t help but grin, a wolfish one fit for a predator. “And that’s how it’s done, boys,” she announced, leering at Terushima. She didn’t need to look to know that Bobata was probably looking at her with the same shock his teammate was regarding her with.

She didn’t wait for the two assholes to collect themselves, and she turned to start making her way back out. “Nozaki, let’s go!” she called out behind her. She listened to his light footsteps, jogging up towards her, before she remembered something.

She stopped and turned again, almost colliding into Nozaki a second time. He caught himself before the ball in his arms could fall down and roll away. She saw that Terushima had drawn himself back up, looking both frustrated and shaken, and Bobata was now hovering near him, saying something she couldn’t hear.

“Hey, Terushima Yuuji,” she called out. His head snapped up to look at her, looking almost _angry_ now. Well, that’s what happened when brats didn’t get what they wanted, after all.

“What the hell do you want?” Bobata retorted in Terushima’s stead, practically growling and looking right pissed as well. Rina almost laughed; that had been _her_ line at the start of this entire exercise.

In lieu of an answer, she stuck her arm out in front of her, curling her hand and pointing a delicate finger right at Terushima’s face, just as she had earlier, then let it slowly trail to the spot where the ball had actually passed--the empty air right beside his ear. “Just a little to the left and it would’ve been your face, huh?”

“Lucky break--” Bobata began, only to be interrupted by Rina.

“Make no mistake, Mr. Random Dickwad--” Terushima growled at the nickname. “--My aim is _impeccable._ ” Her lips curled into a smile. Then she trailed her finger down, down, down, until it was pointing right at his crotch. And, with a heavy tone that promised _many bad things,_ she said, “Next time, it’ll be your balls. Got it?”

The threat made both boys take pause, maybe because they had never heard such a prim and proper lady use such vulgar language? Either way, it didn’t matter. She let her arm fall back down to her side and continued speaking, her tone coarse and rough, grating to the ears of anyone who would’ve happened to listen.

“Listen up, assholes,” she said, crossing her arms, regarding them with open disdain. “You don’t become the manager of a band of punks like my boys unless you can hit some balls yourself. But I’m nothing compared to them. You think you’re hot shit? Those guys we beat earlier gave us a bitch of a time, alright. But if you think we _creamed them_ \--” she emphasized the term Terushima had used earlier-- “then get ready for my boys to mop the floor with your ugly mugs next time we see each other on a court.”

And with that, she had reached the end of her endurance for dealing with airheaded numbskulls. She kept her eyes on them only long enough to appreciate their matching shocked expressions before she spun on her heel and grabbed her jacket from where it was folded over Nozaki’s arm. She pulled it on, the deep burgundy color masking the gray of her t-shirt from view--like a wolf’s fur, matted with blood from a fresh kill. And on the back, in stark white: _‘Oozora International Academy High School - Men’s Volleyball Team.’_

Then, over her shoulder, she flashed them a bright smile, lovely and endearing. “Well, it was really nice meeting you! I can’t wait to see what the rest of the Jouzenji team is like,” she said, her tone light and sweet, her language polite and ladylike. “Let’s have some fun tomorrow, ne, Terushima-kun?”

And as she walked away, Nozaki in tow, she only wished she could’ve seen what kind of face that bastard was making in order to make such a glorious strangled sound of pure frustration.

 

~~~~~

 

“That last part...was totally unnecessary…” Nozaki mumbled as he followed her, still managing to sound exasperated despite his lethargic tone.

Rina laughed. “Yeah, I kinda let my mouth run back there, didn’t I?” She was starting to feel a bit sheepish now that her anger had dissipated. Not towards Terushima, but towards her team. “But, well, I don’t regret it,” she admitted. “Someone had to knock that guy off his high horse.”

“Yes, that’s...well and good, I guess...but did you really have to mention all that stuff? All that stuff about the team, I mean…We really are playing them tomorrow, you know…”

She shrugged. “Whether that whole fiasco had happened or not, we’re still going to face them tomorrow either way, right?”

“That’s not the point…” Nozaki muttered under his breath, but Rina still caught it.

She looked at him over her shoulder, cocking an eyebrow up. “Don’t tell me they scared you? Did you see the way he froze?”

“No…” Nozaki replied, furrowing his brow and directing his gaze elsewhere, as if he thought what he was about to say wasn’t going to be well-received. “Just please don’t...make enemies with other schools…”

Rina barked out a laugh at that, pausing in her steps and turning to look at him fully. His eyes snapped up to look at her. “What you saw back there, my dear duckling, was not me making enemies with other schools, but me defending my dignity as a woman from scumbags who don’t know how to take no for an answer,” she declared, sounding triumphant. Then, her tone softening, she asked, “Do you get the difference?”

Nozaki stared at her for a moment, a bit stunned. Then, realization seemed to dawn upon him. His head tilted as he regarded her with a curious look. “Are you scared...of guys like him?”

“Used to be,” she corrected. She shrugged, a wry smile tugging upon her lips. She shook her head, letting loose a little laugh. “Who wouldn’t be, honestly? I’m 160 centimeters and he’s like, what, 180? Same goes for that friend of his. They’re big guys and I’m a small girl, in an area with almost no one else around, and he’s coming onto me, saying, ‘Hey, Ms. Cutie,’ like that’s supposed to come off as anything but threatening.”

Nozaki nodded. “A dangerous situation...The very definition of one…” he agreed.

She gave an affirmative hum, crossing her arms. “The worst part about guys like him is that they don’t even realize when they’ve crossed the line between being friendly and being a downright creep. As for me, I just got sick of being scared. And I’m as bullheaded as they come, as you very well know.”

Then, her grin gave way to a grimace as she heaved a heavy sigh. “Unfortunately, not everyone’s like that. Can’t imagine what other girls he’s _victimized_ would do when he came onto them like he tried to do with me. With the way he was acting, it’s probably not the first time he’s done something like that.”

“It was probably the first time he’d ever been rejected quite so spectacularly though…” Nozaki supplied, the beginnings of a smug little smile starting to form.

It wasn’t often that Nozaki so blatantly displayed his sly side that Rina was taken aback for a moment, before she snapped out of it and gave a feral grin of her own. “Yeah, I think that guy learned his lesson, at least from me. It’s up to you guys tomorrow to show him a thing or two, yeah? Make them work so hard that he’ll be forced to admit that they did well, even if they lose, okay?”

Nozaki snapped to attention, clicking his heels and puffing his chest out. He gave her a strong salute, still clutching Saito’s ball bag in the hand at his side. “Yes, ma’am!” he crowed in a completely uncharacteristic display of enthusiasm.

Rina blinked at him before breaking down into helpless laughter, and Nozaki smiled before reminding her that there were people waiting for them.

 

~~~~~

 

“And so the prodigal children have returned,” Chihaya quipped loudly as the two of them neared. The rest of the team turned their attention to where he was facing; they were complete and ready to go. And also eating one Garigari-kun popsicle each.

“Do I want to know what took you so long?” Chihaya asked, though he probably wasn’t _that_ annoyed since he shrugged his shoulder, and Riba came forward to hand them a plastic bag from the convenience store across the street. It contained the last two popsicles, still wrapped. (“Coach’s treat,” he explained. Rina hadn’t gotten to him in time.)

“Nothing much,” Rina casually replied after she took her share and thanked Chihaya for it-- _might as well._ “Ran into some guys from another school. Made some friends.”

“Yikes,” Johan commented, not taking his eyes off his phone. He was holding it sideways and Rina could hear the faint sounds of whatever game he was playing coming from it. His popsicle was long gone, with only the stick hanging out of his mouth. “We all know what that means. They give you any trouble?”

She scoffed. “Don’t worry about it.”

“So it’s a yes then,” Sanji sighed, shaking his head, resigned. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his shorts, so Rina assumed he was done eating and had already disposed of his trash.

“Or was it the other way around?” Lennox prodded, grinning. He looked a bit stupid, leaning forward like that, but it was to prevent the rapidly melting popsicle from dripping onto his shoes.

“Me, stir up trouble?” Rina said in mock surprise. “A demure young lady such as myself? Perish the thought, Mr. Sykes!” And with a dramatic flourish, she took a bite. The others just laughed. ‘Demure’ was the last word anyone would have thought of to describe Rina.

“Show-off,” Riba huffed from where he was leaning against a pillar to the side. He wore an easy, lazy smile. “Just because you aren’t prone to brain freeze…” There was a steadily growing puddle in his hand that was cupped under his popsicle. He had just passed the halfway mark, it seemed. “So, who are your new _‘friends’_?” He emphasized the last word, knowing all too well what had probably happened.

Her expression darkened for a moment. Just remembering Mr. Random Dickwad was enough to piss her off. And that shade of yellow, which would have been a good one, had it been worn by anyone but him. “Terushima Yuuji,” she answered. “And some guy named Bobata. From Jouzenji High School.”

There was a ripple of surprise through the small group. It was enough to even get Johan to look up from his phone.

“We’re facing off against them tomorrow!” Saito cried out, panicked, stating what everyone already knew.

“Way to pick your battles, Rina,” Riba commented, though he looked to be wholly unfazed by the news, except for the way his eyes were slightly more open than usual.

“Well, that doesn’t really matter, does it?” Danny, who had been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time, piped up as he bit off the last of his popsicle like it was a piece of barbecued meat on a skewer. “Whether or not Rina-san riled them up, we’d still have to face them tomorrow either way, right?”

Rina, with her eyes locked with Nozaki’s, gestured to Danny with a movement and an expression that both said, _‘See?’_

“That’s right,” Chihaya said, stepping up from where he had been quietly listening from the side up to now. All eyes snapped to their coach immediately.

“You guys have a full day again tomorrow,” he started. Then, he looked at each of them as he continued, “You’ll play in the morning. And you’ll win. And then you’ll play in the afternoon. And you’ll win again. And then the day after tomorrow, you’ll come back to this place, and play center court. And win this whole thing.” He flashed a toothy grin, placing his hands on his hips. “Ain’t that right?”

There was a moment where everyone seemed to hold their breaths, as their coach’s words sank in, then suddenly, all at once, it hit them. “Yessir!!” they all shouted together, Rina included. Loudly, because that made it feel all the more real, all the more true.

“Great!” Chihaya answered, smiling as well. “Now finish off those pops and haul your asses onto the bus!”

As the team made their way to the parking lot, Rina hung back, purposefully slowing down her gait until she fell into step with Riba, who was still struggling to finish his popsicle. He eyed her warily, and she gave a smug little smile in return.

“I wanted to thank you for teaching me that jump serve,” she said simply.

“I huckin’ knew i’,” he said past the entire half of popsicle shoved into his mouth. He was shaking his head but his eyes were scrunched up at the sides, clearly smiling.

Rina just laughed. “Wish you had been there. Practicing those serves with you and Johan was a great idea. That Terushima guy was around your height.”

It took him a few minutes to work through the hunk of ice in his mouth, but once he had sufficiently eaten enough of it to be able to speak clearly, he said, “I’m not sure if Johan and I should be happy about that, being used as target practice for guys trying to ask for your number.”

She patted him on the back, snickering. “It just means you’re doing a good job of protecting your precious manager. By arming her with the skills needed to fight douchebags like that off.”

Then, without being prompted, she fished a pack of wet tissues from her bag and pulled out a couple of sheets. She unceremoniously dropped them into his palm and said, “Here, your hands are all sticky and gross. I thought the polar ice caps were gonna melt off before you finished that thing. I’ll save you a seat, so hurry up, okay?” She patted him again on the back before heading off, leaving him to wipe his hands as he shook his head, still smiling.

She caught up to where Nozaki and Saito were standing next to the bus, Nozaki holding out the dark blue ball bag they had found to its flustered-looking owner.

“Oh, damn! I’m so sorry for the trouble, Ahiru,” she heard Saito say as he took the bag.

Nozaki made a truly incredible expression in response to the nickname. “Please...don’t call me that…”

“Oh! Um…” Saito floundered. “It feels weird calling you by just your last name since it’s only one syllable….And calling you by your first name just seems weirdly intimate? I mean, we don’t even know each other that well yet…?”

“Getting all flustered over nothing again, Saito?” she said as she neared them. The two underclassmen’s gazes snapped to her--Nozaki’s was neutral, but his entire face still looked like he had just eaten something rotten, while Saito’s was panicked, as it usually was. “What is this, a marriage interview?”

“Rina-san!” Saito squeaked, aghast, as he turned an impressive shade of red. Beside him, Nozaki looked even more unimpressed than usual, if that was even possible.

“I’m just kidding,” she laughed, then she clapped Saito on the arm. He looked down at where her hand was clasped, before looking back up at her face. “I just came by to tell you something.”

He gulped, quite audibly. Did this kid have a problem with authority figures or something? “Y-Yes, Rina-san?”

Her hand shot out to grab the wrist of his hand that was holding onto the ball bag, causing him to let out another squeak. Then, she took a deep breath.

And started to shake him. “GET THIS GODDAMN THING REINFLATED!!” she shouted, letting her frustration spill out, like floodgates thrown open to let a wild river loose.

“YES, RINA-SAN!” Saito yelled back, his voice at least an octave higher than it usually was. “I SHALL DO THAT RIGHT AWAY!”

“GOOD!” she bellowed before letting him go, leaving him to stumble back to be stabilized by Nozaki as she boarded the bus.

“Wh-what was that!!” she heard Saito cry out from outside. “Why does she know that!!” It was followed by an exasperated sigh from Nozaki.

“Oi, don’t terrorize the first years,” Sanji said as Rina settled down in the seat across the aisle from him. He was slouched in his own seat, his arms crossed. The hood of his sweatshirt was pulled over his head and eyes--settling in for a nap, it seemed.

“ _‘Terrorize’?_ ” she faked a gasp. “Sanji Satoru, you should know me well enough to know I would never do such a thing!”

He snorted. “It’s _because_ I know you well enough that I know why Saito’s yelling like a headless chicken out there.”

She grinned and laughed, just as Chihaya got out of the driver’s seat to pop his head out the door of the bus. “Saito, Ah, Riba! What, you guys got cinder blocks strapped to your shoes or something?! Hurry up, unless you want to sleep over here?! See you guys tomorrow, is that it?!”

And just as he said that, the three of them came bounding onto the bus, the two first years trying to figure out what Saito could call Nozaki without it being awkward for either of them, and Riba sheepishly stuffing wet tissues stained light blue into his pocket.

“No bin nearby?” Rina guessed as Riba slipped in past her to take the window seat. He shook his head. She stood up to take a headcount, and, when she had ascertained that they were complete, Chihaya pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road without incident.

Rina looked out the window next to Riba, watching the cityscape rolling by. It lulled her, the same way it did the rest of the team, who were probably all asleep, if the blessed silence in the rows behind her was anything to go by.

“What are you thinking about?” Riba asked, his voice soft.

Rina looked at him to see that he was staring at her. She smiled. “ _‘See you tomorrow,’_ Coach said.” She shifted into a more comfortable position in her seat, her arm now pressed fully against Riba’s, and she directed her gaze in front, right through the windshield. “We made it through to the Best 8. I can’t believe it.”

“You can’t?” he teased.

She laughed. “You’re right, you’re right. It’s just…”

“Yeah, no, I get what you mean. It feels unreal, right? We didn’t get far last year in any of the tournaments we joined after the third years retired, and here we are now.”

Rina hummed. He was right.

She leaned over to poke him in the side, making him squirm. “What’s with that faraway tone, huh? We’re not dying!”

“What! You’re the one who keeps looking out of windows dreamily, going _‘tomorrow, tomorrow’_ like some kind of maiden,” he shot right back.

“Lovebirds should learn to keep quiet and spare those of us who are woefully single,” Sanji piped up from his perch across the aisle, still as a statue except for his mouth.

Rina hissed an apology back, then turned to Riba, who was wearing a strange sort of smile. She slapped his arm to get him to stop, which didn’t work, of course.

Minutes passed, now in silence, broken only by the hum of the vehicle as they drove on the highway. The sun was starting to set as well, painting the world outside a mesmerizing array of warm colors, all oranges and reds and pinks. Rina watched as the rice fields outside the window on Sanji’s side rolled by, the color of the sky reflected in the water, dotted by stalks in neat little rows.

She turned to Riba. “Hey,” she said, nudging him lightly on his shoulder.

He had his arms crossed and his eyes closed, but replied all the same. “Hm?”

“I’m proud of you guys.”

He broke out into a gentle smile at those words, his eyes still closed. Somehow, Rina found it easier to say these things when he was like this. “That’s something you should tell everyone,” he replied.

“I will, after everything’s been said and done,” she promised.

“And we’re all proud of you too.”

She laughed, while guilt pooled in her stomach. “What for though? You guys are the ones who do all the heavy lifting here. This victory is yours, not mine.”

He popped open an eye at that. When he saw the vulnerable look she had on her face, he opened the other one as well, and straightened up in his seat to look at her better. “This victory,” he said, completely seriously, “is as much yours as it is ours. You helped us get here. We couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

“Don’t try to butter me up, Derek. It never works,” she said, trying to cover up what she was feeling with a smirk. “Just because someone’s always been along for the ride doesn’t mean that they actually did anything to help it along. I’m more like a glorified cheerleader.”

“Not buttering you up,” he replied without being insistent, but he was frowning now. “Just stating facts. You’re a part of this team as much as I, or Sanji-sempai, or Lennox, or Johan, or Ahiru are. Ask anyone else on this team, and you’ll see that they’ll agree with me.” Then, he leaned back into his chair, looking up front as he started a new line of thought: “You’re actually so involved, it kind of scares people from other clubs. You know Kouki?”

“Your friend from the soccer club?”

“Yeah, that guy. He told me the soccer club talks about us sometimes—I mean, not like, _us_ , you and me, but the volleyball team—“

“Yeah, I get it, Derek.”

“Okay, and he said he’s not sure how someone as flighty as me can stand staying in this club, when we’ve got a manager who breathes down our neck.”

She blushed, affronted. “I do not!”

“I’ve seen you literally slap a brownie out of Johan’s hand, let’s be real here.”

It was a statement she couldn’t deny. She felt her face flood even more with warmth; she was sure she was blushing even harder now, but she said nothing in return.

“Other managers wouldn’t go that far, you know,” he said, still facing forward. “Compiling info, taking notes, logistical stuff, that’s what you’re mainly supposed to do, right? But you do so much more than that. You go out of your way to make sure we’re in good academic standing, you try to make sure we’re eating right, and you’re…” he paused, grasping for the words. “You’re a great friend. Always checking up on us, asking us if there’s anything we need help with, things like that. It’s more than we could ever ask for, really.”

It was then that he turned to finally look at her. Then, he said, with full certainty, no room for doubt, “Be proud of yourself too, Rina. You’re one of us. You’re a part of this team.”

A warm feeling bloomed in her chest at the words, and she smiled--a gentle, genuine thing.

“Thanks, Derek, that means a lot to me,” she said sincerely.

He smiled back. “You’re welcome,” he said before he settled back into his previous position, closing his eyes. “Now let me sleep so I can show your new boyfriend Teru-what’shisface what’s what on the court tomorrow.”

She laughed, patting his arm. “I’m sure you will,” she replied, feeling smug since she’d already beaten Riba to the punch in showing Mr. Random Dickwad _what’s what on the court_ , and warm in her jacket, remembering what was emblazoned on the back, in stark white: ‘ _Oozora International Academy High School - Men’s Volleyball Team.’_

**Author's Note:**

> If you are reading this, EYYY CONGRATS ON FINISHING!!! Let me know what you think about this fic, my team--anything, really!--by leaving a comment. And if you enjoyed this, I hope you consider following [me](http://ax100.tumblr.com) and [Icchan](http://gariben.tumblr.com) on tumblr. We'll be posting character profiles, sketches, and random trivia/chat-style scenarios there.
> 
> Thanks so much, and I hope to you stick around to read my next fic! <3


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